Week 17
This week marks the end of those nasty baby vaccinations - hooray! Am I glad they are over? Yes. Each time they have knocked my dear little Pads back two steps and made him groggy, more unsettled and upset his tum, so I am glad he is now fully vaccinated but also very glad that he doesn't need anymore jabs until his first birthday.
This is week 17.
1. Jab to my heart.
As mentioned above, Pads had his final dose of the big 5 vaccine and the final meningitis b jab this week, and he gave his worst reaction so far. Real, falling from his eyes tears and such a shocked and in pain cry that caused him to then 'air cry', where their face has the most pained expression you ever did see on it, they go bright red, curl in all their limbs and fingers and toes in stiffly and look like they should be screaming but no sound, or breath it seems, comes out. This one lasted a long time so we had to pause giving the 2nd injection, until he calmed back down. Not nice for a mum to see.
I was by myself for this set of jabs too but managed to remain nice and calm to try and soothe him. He cried a lot after the nasty injections were done and needed lots of snuggles before we left the surgery. Again, at home he was crankier and crying more than usual and also very drowsy after the Calpol so he had some long stretches of sleep on me, but other than that, luckily we escaped the fever that they can bring again, and he was back to his usual smiley, fun self by that afternoon. Now stop sticking pins in my son until he's one!
2. Water baby.
I have been looking forward to getting Pads in the water since he was born basically. He bloody loves a splash about and a kick in the bath so I had high hopes that he'd take to swimming in a similar way.
We were offered a free trial of the Water Babies classes so I snapped up a session and off we went. We saw one of the mums and babies we do both our other classes with in the changing room and it was good to see a familiar face as I actually felt a bit nervous when we got there incase he hated it and because I've never had to get a baby ready to swim, yet alone actually take them swimming before. Luckily the changing rooms were spacious, clean and not too warm and I had already put my cossie on under my clothes that morning so I stripped down to my now baggy (thankfully!) maternity swimsuit - cripes only knows when any of my old regular swimwear is! - then it was his turn. Swim nappy on, then the cutest little swim trunks (or Happy Nappy as its called) and a short sleeve wetsuit on top of all that. That was a top mum tip from friends who had been before us and said that even though the water is 30 degrees, that's pretty chilly for a baby still so those in wetsuits seemed to be less bothered than those babies just in trunks. This certainly seemed to be the case with Pads.
The class was lovely and relaxed and we handed our babies one by one to the instructor so we could get safely into the pool, then followed half an hour of various swimming techniques, songs and even a little under water dunk at the end. My boy was quite shocked by the dunking and he did have a little cry and surprised splutter immediately afterwards, but generally handled the whole new experience very well and very quietly. He did suck his thumb the entire time and seemed a bit shy, perhaps overwhelmed by the new space, environment and sounds, but he definitely didn't hate it.
I loved it. It was great to be in the water again and to do a more active specialised class, and it felt really important to be helping to teach my son to swim and feel safe and comfortable in the water. After all, our cottage backs on to a canal that crosses over a river so he is going to need to be water savvy pretty sharp ish. It was over too quickly for me, but was definitely long enough for Paddington as his hands were starting to look a little purple. Glad we had the wetsuit on or he may have needed to come out sooner.
Changing afterwards wasn't as seamless as our getting ready had been, as not surprisingly being a swimming pool, everywhere was wet, so I struggled as to where to put him down safely and get us both changed without making him wet again after I'd dressed him. I did have the nappy changing mat with us but it's pretty slim and he rolls onto his sides all the time now, so kept rolling onto the wet floor.
Next time, I plan on taking a spare padded changing mat with sides that's waterproof so I can lay him on that on the floor and take 3 towels for him as 2 wasn't quite enough - I used 1 to bundle him in straight out of the pool which got soaked immediately, then the other one to try and dry him quickly once I'd removed all his wet kit but it soon got drenched too so a spare would be very useful as speed is of the essence here to make sure they don't get cold after being in and out of the pool. I reckon I did a pretty good job for a first timer, though I found it hard to dry myself too, so left with a slightly soggy feeling all over. We have signed up to the course to take advantage of the discount if you do it within 24 hours and I am really looking forward to starting our swim journey together.
3. Monkey music.
We were all about the free trial this week. We attended a new music class in a local village hall which was good fun and Pads got to play with drums, maracas and bells and listen to some weird and wonderful instruments, such as a spirit drum and the good old triangle. These musical interludes were interspersed with what I can only liken to watching a drama student audition for a cruise ship variety show (I am not being mean, I was a drama student). Some of the older babies and toddlers seemed to love the over the top singing though but I think Pads is a bit young for that to be anything other than slightly intriguing. He was more interested in the instruments. (Good boy!)
It was different and definitely fun and we are going to try out the age specific class next week to see if that might be better tailored to Padster, as this one was for a mix of ages. I do want him to get into music early on so maybe this will help? (My renditions of popular nursery rhymes with ballsed up lyrics as I can't seem to remember any of them past the first few lines plus my free form jazz singing - don't ask why I have started doing this but it seems to calm him! - and making him listen to my fav songs on repeat is also part of his musical training)
4. Nappy thanks.
We have been very lucky to have been given nappies that won't fit other babies anymore, by our lovely mum pals Donna and Harriet - thank you very much! That's one advantage of having a slim little one. It was the first time we've tried a different brand since our disastrous Asda experiment, and this time I must say, I am super impressed with Aldi nappies. They are as good as, if not better than the leading brand. Will def be buying these again.
5. Chuckler.
Prepare for cuteness overload - while fast asleep, Pads let out a proper big chuckle complete with big grin! It was beyond adorable. I thought at first that he had woken up but soon realised his little eyes were still firmly shut and he was peacefully back to his usual quiet sleeping self straight after the chuckle. Now I want to know what he was dreaming about! (Boobs probably)
6. The one with the captivated baby.
With this bloody awful rainy, gale force weather we've been dogged with in Wales this week, we haven't been able to get out for as many walks or any castle trips as usual, and have been a bit house bound on the days when we don't have classes, but I managed to find something we both enjoy doing - watching re-runs of Friends together. It not only mesmerises him and keeps him entertained for at least half an episode sometimes - pretty sure it's all the bright colours, loud voices, expressive faces and fast editing making it really exciting to watch as a baby, but it's been very relaxing and nostalgic for me too. Man I loved Friends, it's still got it all these years later!
7. The way Forward.
We did manage to get one big walk in across the fields which requires a few turn stiles and bumpy, muddy terrain, so not exactly buggy friendly. I used our 'hippy' sling instead and thought I'd try putting him in it facing out as he loves to look around. He looked quite startled, not to mention snug, at first, but once I got moving and put both our winter wooly hats on he was perfectly happy. I took an extra rug to wrap him in and keep us both cosy, as it was very windy and off we went on our trek. It was fab. He was gurgling away merrily at the start as I gave him a running commentary about the hills and mountains and trees and plants we were passing, and seemed very content to be facing out at the world but still close to his mum and feeling the benefits of my internal heating system!
We returned an hour and a half later with ruddy cheeks from the wind and lots of good fresh country air in our lungs. Forward facing is definitely, ahem, the way forward from now on I reckon! Unless I want him to sleep, as there's no way he would sleep facing out with so many exciting new things to see.
8. How old?!
I don't think it's just me, but as I have been counting down Pads age in weeks since he was born, as that's what you do and all the midwives, health visitor etc did, when it came to him being 16 weeks I naturally just assumed that meant he was now 4 months (going by the average idea that a month is a 4 week period) so I dutifully and excitedly did a cute milestone pic and uploaded it onto FB, only to feel foolish as it was pointed out to me that him being 16 weeks doesn't mean he is 4 months (are you still with me?!!) because there isn't always 4 weeks in a month. This is very bewildering to my sleep addled brain!! Tell me I am not the only one that finds this confusing?!So in reality, he won't be 4 months old until 18th November, which is super logical now I see it written down, so sorry I jumped the gun buddy and announced your 4 month birthday 2 weeks too soon! I might just stick to counting in weeks until he is at least 6 months as I know where I am with that!
9. It was acceptable in the 80's.
I did the 2nd class of my breastfeeding peer support training which was really good and the course leader who trained as a midwife in the 80's was telling us how they used to teach new mums to always breast feed for exactly 3 mins on each boob, then for 5 mins each boob, then finally for 8 mins each boob per feeding session and wondered why they had lots of mums complaining of really sore, chapped nipples! They treated it as a science and something that could be timed and regimented which is a world away from how breastfeeding is now viewed, as a baby led or baby responsive practice, that is a skill and art to be mastered by both the mum and the baby.
Pads went in the crèche for the full hour and a half this time and was good as gold and even asleep for the last 20 minutes, so I had to carefully carry him out to the car so as not to wake him. (I didn't, but the bloody gale that started blowing half way across the car park did.)
We are both learning that we can be apart for small bursts and hopefully he will begin to understand that I will alway, always, come back for him! (Anyone else find that they don't know what to do with their hands initially when you are away from your baby?!)
(Thanks to all you lovely folk who admitted that sometimes you get bored parenting too after last week's blog post - we are all in this together. Your texts and messages were much appreciated and we are all about accentuating the positive this week!).
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